almost two decades after: a bibliometric effort to map research … · 2015. 5. 23. · issn...

European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences

ISSN 1450-2275 Issue 73 March, 2015

© FRDN Incorporated

http://www.europeanjournalofeconomicsfinanceandadministrativesciences.com

Almost Two Decades After: A Bibliometric effort to Map

Research on Strategy as Practice using two Data Sources

Jonas Lucio Maia

São Paulo Business School, FGV FundaçãoGetúlio Vargas, São Paulo, Brazil

E-mail:[email protected]

Luiz Carlos Di Serio

São Paulo Business School, FGV FundaçãoGetúlio Vargas, São Paulo, Brazil

E-mail:[email protected]

Alceu Gomes AlvesFilho

Operations Engineering Department

UFSCar Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

After 20 years of Richard Whittington´s seminal paper entitled “Strategy as

Practice” (SAP), this paper aims to provide an overview of academic production inside the

new research area of SAP, evaluating aspects such as main papers, authors, publication

vehicles, themes, institutions, related keywords, among others. Concerning SAP, results

indicate that: (1) SAP is still a young field, with most of the work being published after

2007; (2) Paula Jarzabkowsky and Richard Whittington are the most productive authors,

although Google Scholar suggests there is significant author dispersion; (3) “Strategy” and

“Practice” are the main research terms in Web of Science, while Google Scholar indicates a

large density of related terms; (4) both studies indicate that SAP production has not been

published in classic journals, and there is relevant production in non-English publications

and conferences.Concerning bibliometricdata sources: (1) size limitations in Google

Scholar make it impossible to calculate the classic bibliometric indicators; (2) Google

Scholar generated a database with more than 30 times the results found in Web of Science;

(3) Google Scholar generated a much more disperse and diverse base; (4) there are

concerns in using Scholar as a source of information: 15% of the documents do not carry a

publication date, while 27% do not indicate the publication source.

Keywords: Strategy as Practice; Bibliometric Research; Strategy; Competitive

Management.

JEL Classification Code: L10

1. Introduction Almost 20 years ago, European researchers have initiated a movement called “Strategy as Practice”

(SAP). In contrast to the predominant trends in Business Strategy, the SAP movement seeks to make

various contributions using a sociological approach to research on strategy, considering them as

something that companies do, not as something they simply have (Whittington, 2004). In its research

8 European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences Issue 73 (2015)

framework, SAP aims to analyse the praxis, practices and practitioners of strategy to construct its

empirical reference framework.

The paper published in 1996 by Professor Richard Whittington (University of Oxford, UK)

entitled “Strategy as Practice” can be considered the departing point for such movement. Obviously,

such piece of work was not the first one to study the practice of strategy, but drawing upon previous

contributions on strategic thinking it proposed a research agenda focused on strategists and

strategizing, and coined the term “Strategy as Practice” (SAP). (Whittington, 1996)

After such seminal work, several workshops were organized by the EGOS (European Group for

Organizational Studies) in the following years, to further debate and explore such concept and the new

research agenda it implied. In 2003, the Journal of Management Studies released a special issue on

Strategy as Practice, marking another important milestone on the process of SAP development and

consolidation.

Thus, SAP is still a recent concept, with its seminal work dating from almost 20 years ago and a

second important milestone from about 10 years ago. Unlike the classic works on strategy, which date

from at least 40 years ago and which used economic works far predating this as their source, research

on SAP is still in a process under development and consolidation.

In Maia andAlvesFilho (2013) and Maia, Di Serio and AlvesFilho (2014), the authors presented

summarized versions of bibliometric research that explored the SAP field. The main results indicate

that: (1) SAP is still a relatively “young” field of research, with its publications dating mainly after

2007; (2) academic production on the area is fairly centred on two influential authors, Paula

Jarzabkowski and Richard Whittington, both from England; (4) their work has not been published in

“classic” business strategy journals, but rather in journals relating to organizations and management,

and (3) the research keywords and terms tend to be grouped in two clusters: one related to the

concept’s progress and the other to empirical applications or particular aspects of the SAP approach.

The aim of this article is, after 20 years of Professor Whittington´s first paper, to provide an

overview of academic production inside the new research area of SAP, evaluating aspects such as main

papers, authors, publication vehicles, themes, institutions, related keywords, among others. Drawing

upon both papers mentioned in the previous paragraph, this paper seeks to retrieve and investigate

more deeply the above-mentioned research, contributing new aspects and ways of interpretation,

undertaking bibliometric research using Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar

(GS) assources of information. Harzing and Van Der Wal (2007) believe Google Scholar is an

alternative to other data sources to the extent that it offers a broader coverage than the traditional WoS

and Scopus. For Aguillo (2011), however, universities and journals of lesser importance could be

overrepresented in Google Scholar, compromising the quality of the bibliometric analysis. For this

reason, this work will retrieve, expand and complement the work originally presented in Maia and

AlvesFilho (2013) and Maia, Di Serio and AlvesFilho (2014), aggregating newer information and

analysis, as well as comparing both sources to bibliometric research.

This paper is therefore structured as follows: brief theoretical summaries are given on strategy

as practice and its research elements. Bibliometric analyses using Thomson Reuters Web of

Scienceand Google Scholar are then presented. Finally, the conclusions, work considerations and

research possibilities are discussed.

2. Bibliographic Reference According to researchers of “Strategy as Practice” (SAP), traditional studies on strategy share the view

that strategy is an abstract concept that companies simply have. Consequently, the main studies on

strategy are based on ideas such as: company X has a diversification strategy, company Y has strategic

planning processes, company Z has change management processes, etc.


On the other hand, Johnson et al (2007) emphasize that the SAP viewpoint assumes that

strategy is something that people in organizations do. So strategy is understood as an activity and the

focus of understanding becomes the micro-activities involved in the construction of a strategy. As an

example of this, the authors mentionthat a diversification strategy involves people doing things

differently from other companies, and in a way that is costly to imitate.

“Strategy as Practice is essentially concerned with strategy as an activity of organizations,

typically the interaction of people, rather than strategy as a property of organizations. Our attention,

therefore, focuses on two questions ignored so far: what people involved in the strategic process really

do, and how they influence the products of this process” (Johnsonet al, 2007)”.

In terms of methodology, various articles have proposed strategies of qualitative and

quantitative research for SAP, suggesting ways for analysing data, interview codification techniques,

among other points. From the point of view of research frameworks, Whittington (2006) proposes a

model composed of three interrelated concepts: (1) praxis, (2) practices and (3) practitioners (or

professionals). As the author emphasizes, the alliteration of the terms is intentional, so as to highlight

the interdependence and feedback that exists between the concepts, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Praxis, Practices and Practitioners

Source: Whittington (2006).

According to Jarzabkowski et al (2007), praxis comprises the interconnection between the

action and various physically dispersed individuals and groups, and the socially, politically and

economically established institutions, in accordance with which the individuals act, and to the

institutionalization of which they directly contribute. Seeking a definition for the concept of praxis in

the context of research into strategy, Whittington (2002) presents it as real work performed by the

strategy practitioners, in accordance with how they utilize, modify and replicate the strategy practices.

For Jarzabkowski et al (2007), practitioners are the players, those who use practices to act and

produce the praxis. They act according to the manner in which they use the practices prevalent in their

society, combining, coordinating and adapting them to their needs, and as a consequence, whether

purposely or not, engendering and institutionalizing the resulting new practices.

From the point of view of studying SAP, strategists are active players in strategy’s social

construction process, thus having an impact on its performance and survival. The personal

characteristics of the practitioners end up shaping the strategy, because of who they are, how they

perceive the outside world, how they act and what practices they use.

For Reckwitz (2002) apud Whittington (2006), practices refer to shared behavioural routines,

including traditions, norms and procedures used in thinking, acting and using “things”, the latter in

their broadest sense. In terms of SAP, practices comprise cognitive, behavioural, procedural,

discursive, motivational and physical “things” such as SWOT matrixes, Gantt charts, Knowledge

Management approaches, among various others.

Praxis

Activity flows situated and socially realized ,

that strategically impact

the direction and survival of the group,

organization or industry ,

.

PracticesCognitive, behavioural, discursive ,

,

,

motivational and physical practices that

,

combined and adapted form

.

PractitionersPlayers that give format to

the construction of the practice , by means of who they are ,

how they act and what resources they use.

B

A

C

Strategic Planning


Johnson et al (2007) emphasize the underlying focus in a broad context, with institutionalized

organizational practices in which people are engaged in executing their strategy activity. In this

context, we have at least four examples:

1. Institutionalized procedures and systems, such as strategic planning; 2. Tools, the focus of this work, such as those commonly used in defining strategies; 3. Norms or behaviours that follow scripts, such as characteristic behaviours occurring in

management meetings;

4. Strategic episodes, such as board meetings, planning retreats, etc. The next section will introduce the research method to be applied in the research here

represented.

3. Research Method As previously mentioned, bibliometric analysis will be applied to achieve the intended aim of this

paper. Figueiredo (1977, apud Lima, 1986, p. 127) defines bibliometric research as “the statistical

analysis of written communication process, the quantitative treatment (mathematical and statistical) of

both the properties and the behaviour of the registered information”. Thus, its main objectives are to

shed light on the process of communication and evolution of a discipline by means of quantifying and

analysing its several aspects, gathering and interpreting statistical data on the communication means

(books, journals, etc) to show its historical evolution (Maia, 1973 apudVoese e Mello, 2012).

According to Pritchard (1969), bibliometric research can fulfil at least five distinct purposes:

(1) to identify macro-trends and knowledge growth basis in a certain science area; (2) to evaluate the

degree of dispersion and obsolescence in certain subjects; (3) to assess the impact of the publication of

pieces of work, information and studies and its spread in the academic environment; (4) to quantify the

degree of coverage of certain scientific journals and (5) to identify levels of productivity of authors and

institutions. Hence, all these five purposes are extremely aligned to the aims of the work here

presented.

Bibliometric research is grounded on at least three different laws concerning bibliometric

distribution. Although this paper do not aims at reviewing such laws in detail, they can be summarized

as (Vanti, 2002 andGuedes andBorschiver, 2005): (1) Lotka´s Law, that aims at assessing the

productivity levels of authors, identifying research centres developed around an specific area and

recognizing the solidity of a certain scientific field; (2) Zipf´s Law, that measures the frequency of

certain words inside texts, thus producing a list of terms inside any discipline, according to their

relevance – consequently, the concentration of words with high semantic content can be used as a text

indexation strategy given its representativeness inside the theme domains; (3) Bradford´s Law, which

assesses the productivity of journals thus estimating its relevance inside determined knowledge area –

journals with a higher number of papers about a specific theme form, supposedly, a set of publication

vehicles that are the most relevant to certain field.

Using the abovementioned laws, a step-by-step procedure was developed to carry out the

bibliometric research in this paper, as presented in Figure 2. The first step refers to performing the

search in a scientific indexation database (both Web of Science and Google Scholar). The second step

concerns applying the corresponding search filters, like keywords, publication types, time period, etc,

to better delimitate the sample of papers to be studied. The third steps encompasses the descriptive and

temporal analysis of the papers found in the sample, contextualizing scientific production (publications

and citations) in time and identifying the most relevant papers in the field. Fourth step is grounded on

Lotka´s Law to identify the most relevant authors, institutions and countries, by means of rankings and

co-citation maps. The next step analysis the places there the theme has been published, using

Bradford´s Law to identify the main journals, research areas, and so on. The sixth step uses Zipf´s Law

to analyse the main keywords used in the indexation of sample papers, as well as the main terms that

could be identified in the papers, portraying which concepts are jointly dealt with and how they are


related. In the last step, the main results of all the previous steps are jointly analysed, and the main

conclusions of the research are then produced.

Figure 2: Research methodological steps

Source: Prepared by the authors.

With the purpose of methodologically frame this research, this work can be considered

descriptive, aiming to describe the characteristics of a certain phenomenon by means of gathering data

about its current status (Gay and Diehl, 1992). Concerning the approach to the research problem, this

piece of research uses a combined method of both qualitative and quantitative strategies. According to

Bryman (1989), quantitative research involves the gathering and analysis of data in a structured

manner, in order to interpret certain parameters that are particularly relevant to the investigation. On

the other side, qualitative research is characterized by a greater focus on understanding data rather than

measuring them, being used in cases where the richness of detail is more relevant than quantitative

information (Richardson, 1985).

4. Bibliometric Research at the Thomson Reuters Web of Science The data used in the first bibliometric analysis of this article were documents found in the Web of

Science database published by Thomson Reuters.

The document search process was undertaken using the following keywords as the basis:

“strategy as practice”; “strategy-as-practice”. The Boolean “OR” operator was used and these terms

were researched in the publications’ titles, keywords and topics. Based on this result, the documents

were refined into search criteria, as according to Table 3.

Table 3: Filters with search criteria

Filters with search criteria

Type Articles,conference studies, conference abstracts or book chapters, excluding book reviews.

Areas of knowledge No restrictions

Time No restrictions

Source: prepared by the authors.

From this search and refining, 72 publications were obtained. Electronic spreadsheets and

VOSViewer software were used for analysing the data from the documents found (Van Eck

andWaltman, 2010),

4.1 Descriptive Analysis of Citations and References

Based on the articles generated by the above-mentioned search, this section sets out a series of

descriptive parameters on the citations and references to the articles. Figure 4shows the articles’ year of

publication, in such a way as to contextualize this knowledge production over time. As can be

observed, the number of publications has increased in recent years, mainly from 2007 onwards, since

this period concentrates 92% of all the publications, with an average 9.4 publications per year. This

affirmation, however, should be put into perspective, since as Neely (2005) states, the Web of Science

database contains more information on more recent publications and recently there has been an

increasing trend in the number of academic publications.

Seach in scientific

database

Apply

determined

search filters

Descriptive

and Temporal

Analysis

Author and

Institution

Analysis

(Lotka´s Law)

Journal and

Area Analysis

(Bradford´s

Law)

Keyword and

Term Analysis

(Zipf´s Law)

Combined

analysis and

conclusions


Figure 4: Number of publications per year


Complementary to this, Figure 5shows the number of citations for research articles for each of

the years. From this observation, we can see that the majority of citations occur in the period after

2007, totalling 95% of all the citations and with an average of 118 citations per year. Similar to the

publications, there is a greater tendency for the research articles to be referenced in recent years.

Figure 5: Number of citations for the sample articles per year


Seeking to provide greater detail, Table 6 presents the publications that show the greatest

number of citations to the articles in the sample. It can be said that in practice the articles are proposals

concerning the theory of this concept, setting out the foundations for structuring a body of literature on

the subject. The articles by Richard Whittington and Paula Jarzabkowski tend to be purely conceptual,

discussing the vision and reflecting on the subject, while the other studies contain some application or

a more particular discussion within a component of the Strategy as Practice approach.


Table 6: Publications with the greatest number of citations to the sample

Ranking No.

Citations Authors Title Publication

1 114 Whittington, R Strategy as practice

LONG RANGE PLANNING Volume: 29

Issue: 5 Pages: 731-735 DOI:

10.1016/0024-6301(96)00068-4 Published:

OCT 1996

2 104

Jarzabkowski,

Paula; Balogun,

Julia; Seidl, David

Strategizing: The challenges

of a practice perspective

HUMAN RELATIONS Volume: 60 Issue:

1 Pages: 5-27 DOI:

10.1177/0018726707075703 Published:

JAN 2007

3 80 Jarzabkowski, P

Strategic practices: An

activity theory perspective

on continuity and change

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT

STUDIES Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Pages: 23-

55 DOI: 10.1111/1467-6486.t01-1-00003

Published: JAN 2003

4 53

Jarzabkowski,

Paula; Spee,

Andreas Paul

Strategy-as-practice: A

review and future directions

for the field

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF

MANAGEMENT REVIEWS Volume: 11


10.1111/j.1468-2370.2008.00250.x

Published: MAR 2009

5 53 Chia, Robert;

MacKay, Brad

Post-processual challenges

for the emerging strategy-

as-practice perspective:

Discovering strategy in the

logic of practice

HUMAN RELATIONS Volume: 60 Issue:

1 Pages: 217-242 DOI:

10.1177/0018726707075291 Published:

JAN 2007

6 42 Seidl, David

General strategy concepts

and the ecology of strategy

discourses: A systemic-

discursive perspective

ORGANIZATION STUDIES Volume: 28


10.1177/0170840606067994 Published:

FEB 2007

7 37 Chia, Robert

Strategy-as-practice:

reflections on the research

agenda

EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW

Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Pages: 29-34 DOI:

10.1057/palgrave.emr.1500012 Published:

SPR 2004

8 36 Mantere, Saku;

Vaara, Eero

On the problem of

participation in strategy: A

critical discursive

perspective

ORGANIZATION SCIENCE Volume: 19


10.1287/orsc.1070.0296 Published: MAR-

APR 2008

9 35 Whittington,

Richard

Strategy Practice and

Strategy Process: Family

differences and the

sociological eye



10.1177/0170840607081557 Published:

OCT 2007

10 24

Jarzabkowski,

Paula; Seidl,

David

The Role of Meetings in the

Social Practice of Strategy



10.1177/0170840608096388 Published:

NOV 2008

Source: Prepared by the authors

In analysing the mainjournals in which the articles in this research are cited, it was ascertained

that these are generally centred on journals on Organizations (Organization Science and Human

Relations) and Management (Journal of Management Studies, European Management Review, etc.).

Unlike classic work on strategy published in journals such as the Harvard Business Review and

Strategic Management Journal, the only journal close to the area portrayed here is Long Range

Planning.

Figure 7 shows the citation frequency for each year for the articles most referenced in the

database obtained. In general, it can be seen that each article is typically cited between 5 and 7 times

per year, with the exception of some articles by Whittington and Jarzabkowsky that are cited between

12 and 15 times per year, on average.


Figure 7: Frequency of citations of the most referenced articles


4.2 Descriptive Analysis of Authors and Institutions

Table 8 illustrates the main authors of studies obtained through bibliometric research. To some extent

we can see a certain concentration of literary production on the subject, since just five authors are

responsible for 50% of all publications. Paula Jarzabkowski (ten articles), Richard Whittington (five

articles) and David Seidl (four) are the most prolific, accounting for almost 40% of the studies.

Table 8: Most prolific authors

Authors No. Articles %

Jarzabkowski P 10 21%

Whittington R 5 10%

Seidl D 4 8%

Chia R 3 6%

Balogun J 2 4%

Outros 24 50%


VOSViewer software was used to construct a diagram of author co-citations, i.e., authors

whose works are typically referenced together in articles on the subject, thus denoting a high degree of

similarity between the themes that both authors approach.

Figure 9 shows this co-citation network, which generated four distinct clusters (green, red,

yellow and purple). Although some nodes are repeated due to difficulties in the Web of Science’s

standardization process, there is one cluster with Paula Jarzabkowski as the main author, one with

Richard Whittington as the most influential author and two “peripheral” clusterswith more classic

researchers in strategy, such as Pierre Bourdieu and Henry Mintzberg.

Figure 10 shows a density diagram of this co-citation network, the colours of which are similar

to those in a thermal graph (red = most intense, blue = least intense). Similar to what has already been

commented on, Whittington and Jarzabkowski feature as the most influential authors on the subject.

15

Source: Compiled by the authors.

Source: Compiled by authors.

Tables

whose authors published the most articles on the subject, and their respective countries. Excluding St.

Andrews University in Scotland, and Canada’s University of Montreal, the rema

England and together account for almost 40% of the production on the subject. If we also take Scotland

into account, the United Kingdom accounts for almost half of the material published on the subject.

Obviously there is an extreme c

universities, given that Paula Jarzabkowski

staff of Aston University

Richard Whittington on t

European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences Issue 73 (2015)



Tables 11 and 12







staff of Aston University

Richard Whittington on t




11 and 12, which were derived from the researchers’ analysis, show the universities







staff of Aston University (in 2014 she is part of the teaching staff of City University London),

Richard Whittington on the staff at Oxford University.


Figure 9: Author co

Figure 10:

, which were derived from the researchers’ analysis, show the universities





Obviously there is an extreme connection between the most prolific authors and the

universities, given that Paula Jarzabkowskiby the time of publishing those articles was

(in 2014 she is part of the teaching staff of City University London),

he staff at Oxford University.


Author co-citation diagram

Author density diagram






onnection between the most prolific authors and the

by the time of publishing those articles was


he staff at Oxford University.


citation diagram

Author density diagram





















Andrews University in Scotland, and Canada’s University of Montreal, the remainder are located in




by the time of publishing those articles was on the teaching





inder are located in




on the teaching

(in 2014 she is part of the teaching staff of City University London), and

16

Table

Organization

Aston University

University Of Oxford

University Of St Andrews

University Of Montreal

University Of

Others

Source compiled by the authors.

Table


institutions, i.e., which universities are referenced in the studies of the other universities. To obtain a more

representative graph, a filter of a minimum two refer

applied.

see a cluster with the University of Aston as its main exponent, another with Oxford Un

University and a third with the Canadian universities of Montreal and HEC Montreal.

major influence, signalling a greater proximit

11 might suggest. Again, this fact corroborates to what extent SAP is centred on works produced by Paula

Jarzabkowski and Richard Whittington.


16

Table 11: Most prolific institutions

Organization

Aston University




University Of Warwick

Others


Table 12: Most prolific countries

C


Again, the VOSViewer software was used to construct a diagram of relationship between the



applied.

Figure 1



Figure 14





European Journal of Economics,

Most prolific institutions

Aston University




Warwick


Most prolific countries

Countries

England

Canada

Scotland

Australia

Finland

Others





Figure 13 shows this network, which generated three distinct clusters (green, red and purple). We can



Figure 14 shows a densitydiagram of this network, with in this case Aston University standing out as the






Most prolific institutions


Most prolific countries





shows this network, which generated three distinct clusters (green, red and purple). We can



shows a densitydiagram of this network, with in this case Aston University standing out as the




Figure 13: Diagram of relationship between univ



No. Studies

No. Studies








major influence, signalling a greater proximity with Oxford University than with Warwick University, as Figure


Diagram of relationship between univ


No. Studies

12

5

5

4

4

25

No. Studies

29

8

8

6

6

28



representative graph, a filter of a minimum two references together and clusters of a minimum three items was





y with Oxford University than with Warwick University, as Figure


Diagram of relationship between univ

Finance and Administrative Sciences Issue 73 (2015)



ences together and clusters of a minimum three items was







Diagram of relationship between universities


22%

45%

34%

33%





see a cluster with the University of Aston as its main exponent, another with Oxford University and Warwick





ersities


%

22%

9%

9%

7%

7%

45%

%

34%

9%

9%

7%

7%

33%





iversity and Warwick









iversity and Warwick




17


4.3 Analysis of

Figure 15

This analysis seeks to identify the number of times that two works are cited simultaneously in the same

article, denoting proximity of subject matter between a

In order to extract more meaning from the results, the minimum number of references to the

articles was set at 15. Three distinct clusters were produced; (1) Red, centred on various works by

Paula Jarzabkowski with conceptual

Purple, with initial works on the subject, like that of Whittington 1996, and (3) Green, with more

recent conceptual works on the subject of SAP, with articles by Whittington, Johnson, Chia

Jarzabkowski, among others.

Source: Complied by the authors.


Figure 14:


4.3 Analysis of References

shows the analysis of co









Figure 1



Figure 14: Density diagram of the relationship between universities


References, Journals

shows the analysis of co









Figure 15: Diagram of Co



Density diagram of the relationship between universities

Journals and Subject Areas

shows the analysis of co-citations of the references resulting from the bibliographic research.





Paula Jarzabkowski with conceptual themes and application of the Strategy as Practice approach; (2)



Diagram of Co-



Subject Areas

citations of the references resulting from the bibliographic research.


article, denoting proximity of subject matter between authors and research networks.



themes and application of the Strategy as Practice approach; (2)



-citations (a minimum of 15 references)



Subject Areas



uthors and research networks.






citations (a minimum of 15 references)






























recent conceptual works on the subject of SAP, with articles by Whittington, Johnson, Chia and

18

Jarzabkowski 2007 and Whittington


published. The five most cited journals account for 77% of the publications, with journals of a more

Organizational nature (Organization Studies, Organization Science and Human Relations) account for

approximately 25% and those of Management (Journal of

Management Review) for around 10%.

Table 1

Countries

Human Relations

Organization Studies

Journal of Management Studies

European Management Review

Organization Science

Others


referenced together. Three clusters were obtained: (1) Purple, with classic

Academy of Management; (2) Red with the Organization journals (Organization Science, Organization Studies

and Human Relations) but also with the Journal of Management Studies; and (3) Green, with classic Strategy

journals, s

18

Figure 1



Table 17





Table 17: Most cited journals

Countries

Human Relations





Others


In Figure 18, a




journals, such as the Strategic Management Journal, the Harvard Business Review and Long Range Planning.


Figure 16 shows a density diagram of this network, with Johnson 2003, Jarzabkowski 2004,


Figure 16:


Table 17 shows the journals in which the articles most referenced in the research works we





Most cited journals

Human Relations






In Figure 18, a journal




uch as the Strategic Management Journal, the Harvard Business Review and Long Range Planning.


shows a density diagram of this network, with Johnson 2003, Jarzabkowski 2004,

Jarzabkowski 2007 and Whittington 2006 as the most common references

Figure 16: Diagram


shows the journals in which the articles most referenced in the research works we





Most cited journals




journalco-citation diagramwas constructed, illustrating which journals are typically







2006 as the most common references

Diagram of Co-citations (a minimum of 15 references)






No. Articles

citation diagramwas constructed, illustrating which journals are typically













No. Articles

8

8

4

3

3

46













approximately 25% and those of Management (Journal of Management Studies and European


referenced together. Three clusters were obtained: (1) Purple, with classic Management journals such as the






2006 as the most common references in the co-citation network.





Management Studies and European

11%

11%

64%


Management journals such as the






citation network.





%

11%

11%

6%

4%

4%

64%








citation network.

shows the journals in which the articles most referenced in the research works were









19


Figure 19

Management Journal and Organization Studies being those with the greatest frequency in the co

citation graph.

Source: Compiled by the

To finalize this section, Tables

Science category and by Research Area. As regards category, as expected, almost 80% of the articles

were published within the categories of Management and

referred to Business Economics and 12% to Other Social Science Topics.



Figure 19 shows a density diagram, with the Journal of Management Studies, the Strategic


citation graph.







Figure 18:


shows a density diagram, with the Journal of Management Studies, the Strategic


authors.






Figure 18: Periodical co



Figure 19: Periodical density diagram

To finalize this section, Tables 20 and





Periodical co-citation diagram



Periodical density diagram

and 21 show the distribution of the articles by Web of





citation diagram



Periodical density diagram

show the distribution of the articles by Web of


were published within the categories of Management and Business. In terms of research area, 76%



citation diagram





Business. In terms of research area, 76%










Management Journal and Organization Studies being those with the greatest frequency in the co-





Table 20: Distribution by Web of Science category

Web of Science Category No. Studies %

Management 63 60%

Business 18 17%

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary 9 9%

Planning Development 3 3%

Behavioural Sciences 2 2%

Others 10 10%


Table 21: Distribution by Research Area

Research area No. ofstudies %

Business Economics 65 76%

Social Sciences Other Topics 10 12%

Public Administration 5 6%

Arts Humanities Other Topics 2 2%

Behavioural Sciences 2 2%

Others 2 2%


4.4 Analyses of Terms and Keywords

Figure 22 shows the frequency of keywords in the articles obtained by way of this bibliometric

research.

An important first point to highlight is that the software is not able to normalize/standardize the

keywords according to the concept they represent, it being sufficient to observe the words Strategy as

Practice, Strategy-as-Practice. Since these words clearly represent the same theme, they would be the

most common keyword, with 25 citations, as one would expect from the delimitation of the research.

The other keywords present (1) different concepts related to strategy, such as Strategy, Strategy

Management, Strategy Research and Strategic Plans or (2) specific elements of Strategy as Practice,

such as Discourse, Practice, and Storytelling.

Figure 22: Frequency of keywords


21

Using VOSViewer’s ‘identification of terms’ function, which seeks terms in both the title and

in the abstract, a diagram of the relationship of terms was constructed, as shown in Figure 2

with what

distinct clusters can be obtained in the same diagram: (1) Red, which apparently deals with more

conceptual terms in SAP, and (2) Green, which apparently is more closel

implementation and application.

Source: Com

Figure 2

Practice are the





was shown in Fi





Figure 24 shows the density diagram of terms obtained. As is to be expected, Strategy and

Practice are the most common.





was shown in Figure 22




Figure 23:

iled by the authors.

shows the density diagram of terms obtained. As is to be expected, Strategy and

most common.





gure 22, Practice and Strategy are the terms most frequently cited. Two



Figure 23: Diagram of the relationship of terms


Figure 24: Density diagram of terms




, Practice and Strategy are the terms most frequently cited. Two



Diagram of the relationship of terms


: Density diagram of terms









: Density diagram of terms






conceptual terms in SAP, and (2) Green, which apparently is more closely related to studies on concept








y related to studies on concept




in the abstract, a diagram of the relationship of terms was constructed, as shown in Figure 23. In line



y related to studies on concept



5. Bibliometric Research on Google Scholar with the supportof Publish or Perish The data used in this section’s bibliometric analysis were the documents retrieved from the Google

Scholar database, which were obtained and extracted with the support of the Publish or Perish

application (Harzig, 2007).

The document search process was carried out based on the same keywords as the previous

consultation: “strategy as practice”; “strategy-as-practice”, using the Boolean operator, “OR”.

Due to the limitations of the maximum results of Google Scholar (1000 results), the study had

to be divided into various periods according to year of publication, so that these could subsequently be

consolidated. From this process 2372 results were obtained, with 360 of these having no information

as to date of publication. Similar to the work carried out with the Web of Science, electronic

spreadsheets and the software VOSViewer application (Van Eck andWaltman, 2010) were used in the

analyses.

5.1 Descriptive Analysis of Citations and References

Figure 25 illustrates the articles’ years of publication and, similar to what was identified with the Web

of Science research, the number of publications increased mainly from 2007 onwards. Disregarding the

360 publications with no recorded date, 89% of the publications occurred after this year, with an

average of 256 publications per year. In this case Neely’s reservation (2005) is applicable, due to the

increasing tendency to include studies in this database over the last few years, as a reflection of

Google’s own growth and the development of search engines.

Figure 25: Number of publications per year


Figure 26 illustrates the number of citations for the research articles in each year. Of a total

32,474 citations, most of them also seem to occur in the period that started in 2007, with 73% of all

citations and an average of 3307 citations per year. The highlight is the peak reached in 2008, with

7836 citations. Similar to the publications themselves, there is a greater tendency for the research

articles to have been referenced in recent years.


Figure 26: Number of sample article citations by year.


Table 27 shows publications with the highest number of sample article citations. The highlight

is the first two works, which deal with more general books on strategy. The others, similar to what

occurs with the database research in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science, are seminal articles on the

SAP concept, mostly published by Richard Whittington and Paula Jarzabkowski.

Table 27: Publications with the greatest number of sample citations

Ranking No.

Citations Authors Title Source

1 4607 G Johnson, K Scholes, R

Whittington

Exploring corporate

strategy: Text and cases

Pearson Education; 2008.

2 3272 M Easterby-Smith, R Thorpe,

P Jackson

Management research Sage Publications;2012.

3 1047 R Whittington What Is Strategy----And

Does It Matter

books.google.com;2001.

4 688 R Whittington Completing the practice turn

in strategy research

Organization studies;

oss.sagepub.com;2006.

5 686 G Johnson, L Melin… Guest Editors' Introduction Journal of management …;

Wiley Online Library;2003.

6 506 R Whittington Strategy as practice Long range planning;

Elsevier;1996.

7 465 P Jarzabkowski Strategy as practice:

recursiveness, adaptation,

and practices-in-use

Organization studies;

oss.sagepub.com;2004.

8 429 P Jarzabkowski Strategy as practice: An

activity based approach


9 421 P Jarzabkowski, J Balogun, D

Seidl

Strategizing: The challenges

of a practice perspective

Human relations;

hum.sagepub.com;2007.

10 408 M Easterby-Smith, MA Lyles Handbook of organizational

learning and knowledge

management


Source: Compiled by the authors


Unlike the WoS research, the list of the most cited articles in Google Scholar contains a series

of books (1, 2, 3, 8 and 10), some even catalogued by Google Books itself. The journals Organization

Studies, Long Range Planning, and Human Relations are cited in a similar way as in the other research.

5.2 Descriptive Analysis of Authors and Institutions

Table 28 shows the main authors of the pieces of work obtained by consulting Google Scholar.

Although the main names at the top of the list remain the same, such as P. Jarzabkowski, D. Seidl; R.

Whittington and J. Balogun, they account for far fewer publications (1.38%; 0.68%; 0.88% and 0.54%

respectively). It is worth noting that the twenty most prolific authors do not amount to even 10% of the

publications shown in the study.

Table 28: Most prolific authors

Authors No. studies %

P Jarzabkowski 59 1.38%

D Seidl 29 0.68%

R Whittington 28 0.66%

J Balogun 23 0.54%

E Vaara 20 0.47%

A Langley 19 0.45%

L Rouleau 19 0.45%

S Mantere 18 0.42%

C Carter 15 0.35%

L Melin 15 0.35%

S Paroutis 14 0.33%

R Chia 13 0.30%

Mj Avenier 12 0.28%

M Hällgren 11 0.26%

M Kornberger 11 0.26%

S Clegg 11 0.26%

S Bulgacov 11 0.26%

S Kaplan 10 0.23%

V Ambrosini 10 0.23%

Ap Carrieri 10 0.23%

Others 3,906 91.6%


5.3 Analysis of References, Journals and Subject Areas

Table 29 shows the journals in which the articles most referenced by the research studies were

published and their places of publication. Firstly, it should be noted that approximately 44% of the

research pieces of work do not specify their journals or places of publication. The journals

Organization Studies, Journal of Management Studies and Long Range Planning are the three main

journals, but are not representative at all (3%; 2% and 2% respectively). The highlights are some

“local” journals published in languages other than English, such as the Revue Française de Gestion

(French) and the Revista de Administração da USP (Portuguese). Furthermore, in the reference the

sites of groupsthat typically organize conferences (ANPAD, AOM, etc) also appear.

Table 29: Most cited journals

Source No. Works %

Not specified 633 44%

Organization studies 49 3%

Journal of Management Studies 28 2%

Long range planning 26 2%

International Journal of … 22 2%


Source No. Works %

Human relations 18 1%

Revue française de gestion 17 1%

Scandinavian Journal of Management 17 1%

Strategic organization 14 1%

Organization Science 13 1%

ead.fea.usp.br ‘13 1%

Organization 12 1%

European Management Journal 12 1%

proceedings.aom.org 10 1%

Journal of management … 10 1%

Revista de Administração … 10 1%

Industrial Marketing Management 10 1%

anpad.org.br 10 1%

Others ,448 100%


Table 30 shows the main publishers of the works resulting from the research. Again, around 45% of the

total did not specify the identity of the editors. Google Books appears with 20%, indicating that a large part of

the sample seems to be composed of books. Following on are large corporate publishers of scientific journals,

such as Emerald, Elsevier, Willey, Taylor& Francis, Springer and Scielo in Brazil.

Table 30: Main Publishers

Publisher No. Studies %

Not Specified 387 16%

books.google.com 174 7%

emeraldinsight.com 142 6%

Elsevier 123 5%

Wiley Online Library 115 5%

Taylor & Francis 79 3%

Springer 66 3%

Scielo Brasil 53 2%

oss.sagepub.com 51 2%

papers.ssrn.com 40 2%

Others 1142 48%


Table 31 shows the types of documents obtained in the research. Around 58% of the sample did not

specify exactly what type was referenced; 25% was in PDF (Portable Document File), which in practice refers to

the type of electronic document and not exactly to its publication category. In addition, 11% were citations and

4% were books.

Table 31: Types of document

Type of Document No. Works %

Not specified 1369 58%

PDF 600 25%

Citation 259 11%

Book 85 4%

HTML 50 2%

DOC 9 0%


5.4 Analysis of Terms and Keywords

Similar to what was done in the research with the Web of Science, a relationshipdiagram of the terms

in Figure 32 was constructed. Unlike what was found in the previousresearch, Strategy and Practice are

26

not terms, the citation of which

emerged: (1) Yellow, which is apparently linked to “softer” themes of strategy practice, like

Leadership, Organizational Change, Future; (2) Violet, apparently linked to people and strategy

implementation, using terms like Strategist, Manager, Implementation, Action; (3) Red, which seems

to deal more with themes of strategy process and concept, like Strategic Process, Social Practice,

Strategic Management; and (4) Green, which deals with them

practice.

Source: compiled by the authors.

Google Scholar, the density

around various different themes, like use, knowledge, leadership, work, socialpractice and others.


26







practice.


Corroborating the fact that the terms Strategy and Practice are not so central in the survey in












Corroborating the fact that the terms Strategy and Practice are not so central in the survey in



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